The Delight of Dance...
Excerpts from the teachings of Hazrat Inayat
Khan
Flowers are the footprints of Thy dancing steps.
Hazrat Inayat Khan, Sayings:
Gayan, Vadan, Nirtan
A dancing soul shows its graceful movements in all its activities.
Hazrat Inayat
Khan, Sayings: Gayan, Vadan, Nirtan
Every movement has a greater significance than one can imagine. The
ancient people, recognizing this fact, knew the psychology of movement,
and it is a great pity that the science of movement and of its psychological
effect seems to be so little known today. Movement is life. ... The
blessings given by the sages, the good wishes and prayers of the masters,
were always connected with movement. The movements made the prayer alive;
they insured that the blessings were granted. No doubt if movement is
without silent thought and deep feeling it is less than thought and
feeling, it is almost nothing; but when a movement is made with a living
and sincere thought, and with deep feeling, it will make the thought
and feeling a thousand times more effective.
Hazrat Inayat Khan, Volume XI, Psychology
There are many delightful experiences in life, but joy is something
greater and deeper than delight; it springs from the innermost being,
and there can be no better description of the spring of joy than the
dance of the soul. One finds in the life of every person, sorrowful
or happy, wise or foolish, moments when he begins to sing or move. Joy
may be expressed by a smile, it may even be expressed in tears, but
in all it is the dance of the soul. ... Man can never make the soul
dance, but he can make himself a fit instrument for the expression of
his soul.
Hazrat Inayat
Khan, Volume VIII
One should not forget that rhythm comes from the dancing of the soul.
When the soul begins to dance, every word, every expression of a person
becomes rhythmic. Rhythm, therefore, must not be forgotten, for rhythm
inspires other souls to dance.
Hazrat
Inayat Khan, Volume X, Sufi Mysticism
In a musician the soul dances in the realm of music, in a painter the
soul dances in the realm of colors, in the poet it dances in the realm
of poetry. In sculpture and architecture we also find that it was the
dance of the soul which produced it; the Taj Mahal in India for instance
was a product of the dance of the soul. In all these aspects the soul
shows its beauty, and in all these different realms the dance of the
soul is one and the same. When one bell is rung, by the sound of that
one bell other bells will also vibrate. So it is with the dancing of
the soul; it produces its reaction and that again will make other souls
dance.
Hazrat Inayat Khan,
Volume XIV, The Smiling Forehead
Once the soul has awakened, called by beauty, it leaps up dancing.
Then its every movement makes a picture, whether in writing, poetry,
music or whatever it may be. A dancing soul will always express the
most subtle and intricate harmonies in the realm of music or poetry.
Hazrat Inayat Khan,
Volume X, Sufi Mysticism
Tune and rhythm tend to produce an inclination for dance. To sum
up, dancing may be said to be a graceful expression of thought and feeling
without uttering a word. It may be used also to impress the Soul by
movement, by producing an ideal picture before it. When beauty of movement
is taken as the presentment of the divine ideal, then the dance becomes
sacred. The music of life shows its melody and harmony in our daily
experiences. Every spoken word is either a true or a false note, according
to the scale of our ideal.
Hazrat Inayat Khan,
Volume II, The Mysticism of Sound
Poetry is an art, a music expressed in the beauty and harmony of
words. No doubt much of the poetry one reads is meant either as a pastime
or for amusement; but real poetry comes from the dancing of the soul.
No one can make the soul dance unless the soul itself is inclined to
dance. Also, no soul can dance which is not alive.
In the Bible it is said that no one will enter the kingdom of God whose
soul is not born again. Being born means being alive. It is not only
a gay disposition or an external inclination to merriment and pleasure
that is the sign of a living soul. External joy and amusement may come
simply through the external being of man. However, even in this outer
joy and happiness, there is a glimpse of the inner joy and happiness,
and that is a sign of the soul having been born again.
What makes the soul alive? It makes itself alive when it strikes its
depths instead of reaching outward. The soul, after coming up against
the iron wall of this life of falsehood, turns back within itself; it
encounters itself, and this is how it becomes living.
Hazrat
Inayat Khan, Volume X, Sufi Mysticism
The purpose of life is to become more living, to allow the soul to
live more, and that is the limit given by Christ when he says, 'Raise
your light high'. This means allowing the soul to express itself. It
does not matter what your life is, what your pursuit is; in order to
fulfill the purpose of life you need not be in a temple or a church.
Whatever your life's pursuit - art, poetry, sculpture, music, whatever
your occupation may be - you can be as spiritual as a priest or clergyman,
always living a life of praise. Your work in life must be your religion;
let the soul express itself in every aspect and it will surely fulfill
the purpose of life. The soul's life comes naturally if we open ourselves
for the spirit to rise. .... Life and love come from God and raise every
soul till it dances.
Hazrat Inayat Khan,
Volume XIV, The Smiling Forehead
Thy music causeth my soul to dance;
in the murmur of the wind I hear Thy flute;
the waves of the sea keep the rhythm of my dancing steps.
Through the whole of nature I hear Thy music played, my Beloved;
my soul while dancing speaketh of its joy in song.
Hazrat Inayat
Khan, Sayings: Gayan, Vadan, Nirtan
